Water-proof and fire-proof material for roofing



(No Model.)

A. BLANK. WATER PROOF AND FIRE PROOF MATERIAL FOR ROOFING, &O. NO. 448,495. Patented Mar. 1'7, 1891.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,495, dated March 1'7, 1891. Application filed May 23, 1890. Serial No. 352,854. (No specimens.)

T rtZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALOIS BLANK, of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ater-Proof and Fire-Proof Material for Roofing and other Purposes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part hereof.

My present invention relates to an improvement upon the material described and claimed 1n myUnited States patent, No.409,096,dated August 13, 1889, (since reissuedg) and it con sists in the novel combination and arrangement of elements hereinafter set'forth and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a view of a sheet of my improved material, exhibiting the various stages of preparation, and showing the relative position of the several elements which combine to produce the improved result, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line :0 0c, Fig. 1.

The object of the invention is to produce a fire and water proof, toughened, and flexible material that shall be practically indestructible for use in sheathing ships, roofing and siding buildings, and for other purposes to which it may be adapted, the material so improved being composed of two layers or masses of fire-proof matter of any desired thickness, incasing and filling the meshes of a layer of wire netting or similar material having meshes firmly united by pressure, and the outer surface or surfaces of said fire-proof masses having intimately united or formed integrally therewith a coating of metal deposited by electricity.

1 is an under layer or mass of pure asbestus fiber, mineral wool, fibrous gypsum, hornblende, or glass wool, of any desired thickness, and 2 is a layer of wire-netting or netting of any suitable kind,which is first given a bath of coal-tar or coaltar varnish, to protect it from corrosion during after use, thereby forming upon its opposite sides a layer of coal-tar or coal-tar varnish a b, and it is then ready to be incorporated or incased by the masses 1 and 3, as now to be described.

In carrying out the invention I prefer to first disintegrate the asbestus, if asbestus is to be used, and convert it into a pul mass by the addition of water only, and the same in case mineral wool is used instead of the asbestus, no adhesive material being made useof, and the pulp is then spread over one or both sides of the netting 2, forming thereon (by means of pressure, as before stated) solid under and upper fire-proof masses 1 and 3. The material thus prepared is coated upon one or both sides with a mixture of coal-tar or coal-tar varnish or asphaltum varnish holding in suspension an additional quantity of finely-powdered carbon, such as plumbago, and, if desired,peroxide of manganese. The volatile portion of the mixture is then evaporated by heat, leaving the plumbago or other finely-divided carbon and non-volatile matter intimately associated incorporated by direct contact, or, in other words, integrally united with the fibers of the mass or masses 1 and 3, thus imparting a good conducting-surface to the latter, which the same would not otherwise possess, and then a coating of copper, nickel, or other metal 5 is deposited directly upon and is integrally united to the conducting-surface i without the aid of cement or other adhesive material, the deposit of metal taking hold of the grains of carbon which rest in the interstices of the mass or masses, and so becoming integrally united to the latter. The material may then be immersed in a bath of molten metal, such as tin, lead, or zinc, and a second coating of metal 0 will be deposited on the exterior ot'the material, and thus a sheet of molten metal is attached to the mass or masses.

It is evident that blocks, tubes, and ornamental shages of fire-proof material, as Well as sheets or layers having a plain surface, may be treated as above, the wire or other netting having been previously incorporated to afford the requisite strength and toughness. The sheets thus improved are very strong, flexible, non-conductors of heat, tireand wa ter proof, and practically indestructible. If the surface to be coated with metal is very large and the electro-deposition must be very rapid,I increase the conductivityof the mass or masses 1 and 3 by applying an additional coating to the carbon 4: of sulphide of silver or metallic silver applied in the usual way by the chemical decomposition of a nitrate of silver.

This invention being an improvement upon the material secured to me by my United States patent mentioned at the beginning of this specification, I am of course aware that j asbestus has been coated with copper, and am further aware that textile fabrics have i been so coated, also, that an intimate mixture of asbestus and an oxide has been spread I upon opposite sides of a wire-netting or other fabrichavii'ig a nicshyconstruction; butsuch material not possessing the qualities of the fireproof material specified by me are not adapted to my purpose and invention, and l hereby disclaim them.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim is 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a fire-proof mass strengthened or toughened by incorporation within a body thereof of a 1 metal, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

9. The improved fire-proof material composed of a niass of tire-proof fibers toughened or strengthened by the incorporation therein of a netting 2, and having its interstices supplied with a carbonaceous material 4, and a coating of metal 5, adhering to said carbonaceous material and to the mass of lire-proof fibers, the same entering the interstices of the latter, substantially as set forth.

Intcstimonywhereoflafiix mysignature in presence of two Witnesses.

ALOIS BLANK. \Vitnesses:

C. K. JONES, .lNO. (7. Ilmnox.

' netting of wire or other material, and having 20 formed upon its outer surface a coating of 

